A conservative activist judge has with this decision attempted to create an imperial presidency asserting that Bush has the right to hold a United States citizen indefinitely and without charge.

Before all you folks who love Bush cry "Terrorist have no rights" please stop to consider the implications of this appeals court decision. Right now your man Bush is jailing people who you beleive are the bad guys. (We will leave out the argument that there is no proof that's the case)

But...stop for a moment and consider what may happen when you give the standing president this sort of power? What if you are the person tossed into jail, not allowed to see the evidence against you, not allowed to consult a lawyer or even contact your family to tell them you disappeared.

What if a future president decides, armed with that sort of power that religion has threatened the state and people of your faith must be jailed indefinitely and without charge because they are a security threat. It's much more likely than you think ladies and gentlemen.

Full article at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/22/10522/

Gitmo ‘Justice’ for US Citizens?
by Robert Parry

"A conservative-dominated U.S. Appeals Court has opened the door for President George W. Bush or a successor to throw American citizens - as well as non-citizens - into a legal black hole by designating them “enemy combatants,” even if they have engaged in no violent act and are living on U.S. soil.

The federal Appeals Court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled 5-4 on July 15 that Bush had the right, while prosecuting the “war on terror,” to hold Qatari citizen (and Peoria, Illinois, resident) Ali al-Marri indefinitely as an “enemy combatant.”

But some of the court’s more liberal judges expressed alarm, saying the legal reasoning that denied al-Marri meaningful due process not only trampled on American legal traditions but could be used to lock up U.S. citizens as well.

“For over two centuries of growth and struggle, peace and war, the Constitution has secured our freedom through the guarantee that, in the United States, no one will be deprived of liberty without due process of law,” wrote Judge Diana Motz, a Bill Clinton appointee, who dissented against the court’s approval of sweeping presidential powers.

Motz noted that al-Marri has been imprisoned for more than five years, “without acknowledgement of the protection afforded by the Constitution, solely because the Executive believes that his indefinite military detention - or even the indefinite military detention of a similarly situated American citizen - is proper.”

Al-Marri’s lawyers plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the case underscores one of the biggest issues at stake in the November elections: whether Republican John McCain will get to fulfill his promise to appoint more Supreme Court judges like Samuel Alito and John Roberts, who have embraced Bush’s vision of an all-powerful President."

Didn't we do this before during world war 2...to japanese living in the USA??? Funny how history repeats

It would be nice to see Bush and Cheney swear oath and sit in front of the Supreme Court to answer critical questions that the PEOPLE would like to know.

That way things could get clarified and the people will understand what truly happened to why many of our laws have been changed and why the presidential cabinett had done the things they did at the time.

If we will ever experience such a day. Something tells me it won't happen, but if Congress or better yet the PEOPLE could vote on it then it should be done.

This is nothing New and it's Not Bush! ever Hear of Leonard Peltier?

Was he a native american activist?? Not sure would have to look it up.

Yes He Is! He was Arrested and Found Guilty in 77 and is still in Prison. He Was Arrested for Killing FBI Agents on a Reservation that He Was not on. Never mind the Feds opened Fire First, but they Blamed Him For it.

*wow* holy boobies! {i'm sorry I know off topic!}

Wow! That sounds like he knew something that could hurt the government or something?? I mean if he wasn't even there for the murdering of the FBI agents then who did it and why was he arrested. Looks like a cover up maybe??

Sounds strange.

Our government has never lived up to the words written in the Constitution And its not just Bush...although he is an idiot...its all of them...crooked SOB's

I know whatcha mean, I had a similar response...

What is this whole civil rights , sticking to the constitution crap thing anyway?

When was it ever adhered to?

Like all things within arrogant humans reach, they take, they twist, they arrange everything in the order they want it to be in... and call it correct.

It's total crap...any shred of civil anything blew away with thelast stupid thing Bush created...along with national paranoia..that whole 'With us or against us" crap...and the right to scrutinise anyone anywhere, and throw them in a concrete box for ever if they wish to.

You willingly gave it up when all those poor people lost their lives through the hijacked planes...

We are human. We try and we fail. Because we have failed in past should we never try again?

The Constitution is a beacon of hope, it points to what should be, it lives, it provides guidance and sets clear standards.

Remember, the people who conceived this document did not all agree. See the Federalist Papers, but they forged this document anyway. Remember too that the people who formed this nation and sought independence were doing something unprecedented at the time. Success in securing independence meant, without clear guidelines anarchy and with clear guidelines uncertainty at best, in the future. Also remember that no country at the time had successful gained independence from England. Failure meant almost certain death for the founders.

Why try? Because if we don't we are unworthy of the freedom we have gained and are surely on the path to losing it.

Any nation with no sound and just laws becomes a JUNGLE .

Well this is a no brainer...don't be a traitor & you won't have a problem.

Define traitor, the Founding Fathers are consider traitors to the English. The Founding Father were revolutionaries, hence American Revolutionary War.

The Founding Fathers believed in freedom...not govt. terrainy.

I'd say we have more problems with Big Govt. than Bush using this law on Americans citizens who are just going about their daily lives.

Look at what your saying. You worry about Big Government yet you support a bill that increases Big Government. Even worse this bill only stengthens one branch of government when the Founding Fathers intended checks and balances.

No brainer?...I hope you are kidding. I have served in the U.S. military.

Traitor?!?!?!?! For not seeing things your way?

Okay......colour me traitor....Don't want to see more blood spilled....I got a problem with it.

Some folks don't...That is exactly what I love about this country.....

People can just be who they are....I can honor that part of what our constitution was meant to be. This is America.....we all have the right to be offended.

If you aren't a traitor you have nothing to worry about eh?

Humm well, if you arrested, jailed and not allowed to know who has accused you, what the evidence against you is or what the charge is I would say you have a whole lot to worry about.

If you aren't alarmed and deeply concerned about the state of our union you are not paying attention.

Do you belong to any political, environmental or union organizations? Do you post on forums or visit websites? Have you ever protested current U.S. policies? Have you used words like bomb, terror, Bush or expressed violent frustration about this administration while using the phone? Guess what? Your phone calls and emails can and likely have been monitored? Is that o-k? What happen to the presumption of innocence?

Geo. Bush is in my view a traitor. He took an oath of office swearing to support and defend the Constitution. Since that time he and the current administration have used legal and illegal dodges to avoid any investigations that congress has attempted to pursue.

Can I prove he is a traitor? No...but the evidence, even the small bit that is available to the general public, is compelling.

/waves at the NSA Thank-you for your interest.

same head up your a$$ mind set they had here in the 70s, wonder what crimes the 30 thousand dissapeared here were guilty of??? Its going to happen over there if you keep going down the path you North Americans are taking...peel yourselves away from your televisions and Happy Meals and take back your country while you still can....